0 
0 
0: 

9i 
1  I 
01 

8i 

41 


c Lii\  rOi.' ,  D^^  1  r  f 

A  discourse  delivered  at  Schei 
ectady,  July  22d,  A.D.  1823. 
before  the  New-York  Alpha  of 


THE  IJJi, 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALsrOKr^:' 
SANTA  BAifiiARA 


DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED  AT  SCHENECTADY, 

JULY  22d,  A.  D.  1823, 

BEFORE  THE  NEW- YORK  ALPHA 

OF  THE 


BY    THE    HONORABLE 

BE  WITT  CLINTON,  LL.  D. 


ALBANY : 

PRIMED  BY  VVEBSTERS  AND  SKINNERS. 

1823. 


if^li 


\t  a  meeting  of  the  New- York  Alpha,  held  at  Schenectady,  July 
22(1,  1823, 
On  motion,  resolved,  That  the  Hon.  James  Kent,  Rev.  Eliphalet 
J\'ott,  D.  D.  John  Cluster,  D.D.  .Andrew  Yates,  D.  D.  the  Hon.  John  W. 
Taylor,  Br.  M'GoJin,  and  Col.  Pai^e,  be  a  committee  to  return  the 
thanks  of  this  Society  to  the  Hon.  De  Witt  Clinton,  for  his  learned 
discourse  this  day  delivered — to  express  to  him  the  grateful  sense  of 
the  institution,  and  to  request  of  him  a  copy  for  the  press. 
Attest, 

JOEL  B.  NOTT,  Register. 

■  i,  ^ 

Albany,  July  24, 1823. 

Sir,  ^ 

AVe  the  subscribers,  on  behalf  of  the  committee  appointed  by  a  reso- 
lution of  the  New-York  Alpha  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society,  beg 
leave  to  present  you  the  thanks  of  the  Society,  for  your  learned  and 
excellent  Anniversary  Address,  delivered  before  the  Society  on  the 
22d  inst. ;  and  we  are  instructed  by  a  vote  of  the  Society,  respectfully 
to  request  the  favor  of  a  copy  for  publication. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be. 

With  the  most  perfect  respect, 
Your  most  obedient  servts. 

JAMES  KENT, 
JOHN  CHESTER. 
The  Honorable  De  Witt  Clinton. 


Albany,  25  July,  1823. 
Gentlemen, 

In  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  New-York  Alpha  of  the  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  Society,  communicated  through  you,  I  have  the  honor  to 
transmit  a  copy  of  the  late  Anniversary  Address  delivered  by  me. 

A  favorable  notice  by  this  excellent  Society  must  always  be  accept- 
able ;  and  its  value  is  greatly  enhanced  on  the  present  occasion,  by 
the  concurrent  approbation  of  its  distinguished  and  enlightened  com- 
mittee. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

With  the  highest  respect, 
Your  most  obedient  servt. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 
The  Hon.  James    Kent,  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Chester. 


-<4 


Digitized  by  tlie'lnternet'l^rchive 

in  2007  witli  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/discoursedeliverOOcliniala 


1 


»• 


> 


f 


Wii^t0nt»$^ 


MR.    PRESIDENT, 

AND    GENTLEMEN    OF    THE    SOCIETY. 

In  accepting  the  honor  of  your  renewed  invita- 
tions to  appear  at  this  place,  I  have  not  been  in- 
sensible of  your  kind  preference ;  and  when  you 
were  pleased  to  intimate  that  the  deep  interest  of 
science,  in  exhibitions  of  this  nature,  might  be 
promoted  by  my  co-operation,  I  considered  it  my 
imperative  duty  to  yield  a  cheerful  compliance. 
When  I  endeavour  to  enforce  those  considera- 
tions which  ought  to  operate  upon  us  generally  as 
men,  and  particularly  as  Americans,  to  attend  to 
the  cultivation  of  knowledge,  you  will  not,  I  am 
persuaded,  expect  that  I  shall  act  the  holiday 
orator,  or  attempt  an  ambitious  parade,  an  osten- 
tatious display,  or  a  gaudy  exhibition,  which 
would  neither  suit  the  character  of  the  society, 
the  disposition  of  the  speaker,  the  solemnity  of 
the  place,  or  the  importance  of  the  occasion. — 
What  I  say  shall  come  strictly  within  the  pur- 
view of  the  institution,  shall  be  comprised  in  the 
language  of  unvarnished  truth,  and  shall  be  di- 
rected with  an  exclusive  view  to  advance  the  in- 
terests of  literature.  1  shall  not  step  aside  to  em- 
bellish or  to  dazzle,  to  cull  a  flower  or  to  collect 


a  gem.  Truth,  like  beauty,  needs  not  the  aM  of 
ornament,  and  the  cause  of  knowledge  requires  no 
factitious  assistance,  for  it  stands  on  its  own  mer- 
its, supporting  and  supported  by  the  primary  in- 
terests of  society,  and  deriving  its  effulgent  light 
from  the  radiations  of  heaven. 

Man  without  cultivation  differs  but  little  from 
thfe  animals  which  resemible  him  in  form.  His 
ideas  would  be  few  and  glimmering,  and  his 
meaning  would  be  conveyed  by  signs  or  by  con- 
fused sounds.  His  food  would  be  the  acorn  or 
locust — his  habitation,  the  cave — his  pillow,  the 
rock — his  bed  the  leaves  of  the  forest — his  clothes, 
the  skins  of  wild  beasts.  Destitute  of  accommo- 
dations he  would  roam  at  large  seeking  for  food, 
and  evincing  in  all  his  actions,  that  the  state  of 
untutored  nature  is  a  state  of  war.  If  we  cast  our 
eyes  over  the  pages  of  history,  or  view  the  exist- 
ing state  of  the  world,  we  will  find  that  this 
description  is  not  exaggerated  or  over-charged. 
Many  nations  are  in  a  condition  still  more  de- 
plorable and  debased,  sunk  to  the  level  of  brutes, 
and  neither  in  the  appearance  of  their  bodies  or 
in  the  character  of  their  minds,  bearing  a  resem- 
blance to  civilized  humanity.  Others  are  some- 
what more  advanced,  and  begin  to  feel  the  day- 
spring  from  on  high — while  those  that  have  been 
acclimated  to  virtue  and  naturalized  to  intelli- 
gence, have  passed  through  a  severe  course  of  ex- 
periments and  a  long  ordeal  of  sufferings. 


Almost  all  the  calamities  of  man,  except  the 
physical  evils  which  are  inherent  in  his  nature, 
are  in  a  great  measure  to  be  imputed  to  erroneous 
views  of  religion  or  bad  systems  of  government ; 
and  these  cannot  be  co- existent  for  any  consider- 
able time  with  an  extensive  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge. Either  the  predominance  of  intelligence 
will  destroy  the  government,  or  the  government 
will  destroy  it.  Either  it  will  extirpate  supersti- 
tion and  enthusiasm,  or  they  will  contaminate  its 
purity  and  prostrate  its  usefulness.  Knowledge 
is  the  cause  as  well  as  the  effect  of  good  govern- 
ment. No  system  of  government  can  answer  the 
benign  purposes  of  the  social  combinations  of 
man,  which  is  not  predicated  on  liberty,  and  no 
creed  of  religion  can  sustain  unsullied  purity  or 
support  its  high  destination,  which  is  mingled  with 
the  corruptions  of  human  government.  Christi- 
anity is  in  its  essence,  its  doctrines  and  its  forms, 
republican  :  It  teaches  our  descent  from  a  com- 
mon parent  :  it  inculcates  the  natural  equality  of 
mankind ;  and  it  points  to  our  origin  and  our 
end ;  to  our  nativity  and  our  graves,  and  to  our 
immortal  destinies,  as  illustrations  of  this  impres- 
sive truth.  But  at  an  early  period  it  was  pressed 
into  the  service  of  the  potentates  of  the  earth  ;  the 
unnatural  union  of  church  and  state  was  consum- 
mated ;  and  the  sceptre  of  Constantine  was  sup- 
ported by  the  cross  of  Jesus.  The  light  of 
knowledge  was  shut  out  from  the  general  mass 


^4k 


^m- 


and  confined  to  the  selected  organs  of  tyranny  : 
and  man  was  for  ages  enveloped  in  the  thickest 
gloom  of  intellectual  and  moral  darkness.  At 
the  present  crisis  in  human  affairs,  we  perceive  a 
great  and  portentous  contest  between  power  and  ^ 
liberty — between  the  monarchical  and  the  repre- 
sentative systems.  The  agonies  and  convulsions 
of  resuscitating  nature  have  agitated  the  nations, 
and  before  they  are  restored  to  their  rights  and 
the  world  to  its  repose,  tlie  hand  of  famine,  the 
scythe  of  pestilence,  and  the  sword  of  depopula- 
tion, will  fill  up  the  measure  of  human  calamity. 

The  present  state  of  the  world  exhibits  an  ex- 
traordinary aspect.  In  former  times,  it  was  the 
policy  of  the  sovereign  to  encourage  eminent  merit 
in  literature,  science  and  the  arts.  The  glory 
that  was  radiated  on  intellectual  excellence  was 
reflected  back  on  tlie  government ;  but  these  dis- 
pensations of  munificence  were  confined  to  the 
Aristotles,  the  Virgils,  and  the  Pliuies  of  the  age. 
The  body  of  the  people  were  kept  in  a  state  of 
profound  ignorance,  and  considered  as  the  profa- 
num  vuigus,  to  be  employed  as  hewers  of  wood 
and  drawers  of  water,  and  to  be  used  as  beasts 
of  burden  or  of  prey  as  the  policy  or  the  caprice  of 
the  despot  should  prescribe. 

The  revolution  effected  by  the  invention  of 
printing,  has  created  a  corps  of  literary  men  in 
the  cities,  the  universities,  the  academies,  the  ly- 
ceums;  and  the  philosophical  societies  of  the  most 


l"** 


9 


arbitrary  governments  of  Europe,  which  have  ex- 
ercised an  influence  over  public  opinion  almost 
irresistible.  Man  is  the  creature  of  imitation  and 
sympathy :  And  however  callous  the  sovereign 
might  be  to  public  opinion,  yet  it  predominated 
over  his  ministers,  who  in  reality  wielded  the 
sceptre.  The  consequence  was,  that  a  more  ex- 
tensive diffusion  of  knowledge  was  promoted,  and 
the  blessings  of  instruction  visited  the  cottage  as 
well  as  the  palace.  Monitorial  schools  and  reli- 
gious societies  were  generally  established,  and 
the  sunshine  of  mental  and  moral  illumination 
penetrated  the  darkness  which  covered  the  na- 
tions. To  know  our  rights  is  to  assert  them. 
The  principles  of  the  American  revolution  became 
the  text-book  of  liberty,  and  its  practical  commen- 
taries are  to  be  read  in  the  events  now  occurring 
in  various  parts  of  the  globe.  Greece  has  un- 
furled the  holy  standard  of  liberty,  and  waves  it 
in  defiance  over  the  crescent  of  Maliomet.  Span- 
ish America  is  breaking  the  chains  of  tyranny  : 
Spain  and  Portugal  have  drawn  the  sword  in 
vindication  of  the  rights  of  man  :  Public  opinion 
is  operating  with  magic  influence  in  Great  Britain 
in  favor  of  the  oppressed  nations  ;  and  the  result 
will  show,  that  the  physical  strength  of  Europe 
must  follow  the  train  of  its  moral  power.  It  is  in 
vain  to  say,  that  the  people  now  in  commotion  are 
unfit  for  free  government.  Conceding  the  fact,  it 
avails  nothing  in  the  argument.     The  human  cha- 

2 


v/ 


10 


racier  is  principally  moulded  by  knowledge,  reli- 
gion, freedom  and  government.  The  free  states 
of  Greece  exhibited  diflFerent  aspects  of  mind,  of 
manners,  and  of  morals.  But  we  no  longer  re- 
mark, as  a  distinguishing  characteristic,  the  ethe- 
rial  spirit  of  the  Athenian,  the  pastoral  simplicity 
of  the  Arcadian,  the  stupidity  of  the  Bceotian,  or 
the  laconic  brevity  of  the  Spartan.*  The  sweep- 
ing hand  of  despotism  has  confounded  in  one  mass 
all  the  delicate  colouring,  the  lights  and  shades  of 
the  picture.  In  revolutionary  times,  great  talents 
and  great  virtues,  as  well  as  great  vices  and  great 
follies,  spring  into  being.  The  energies  of  our 
nature  are  put  into  requisition,  and  during  the 
whirlwind  and  the  tempest,  innumerable  evils  will 
be  perpetrated.  But  all  the  transient  mischiefs  of 
revolutions  are  mild,  when  compared  with  the  per- 
manent calamities  of  arbitrary  power.  The  one 
is  a  sweeping  deluge,  an  awful  tornado,  which 
quickly  passes  away — but  the  other  is  a  volcano, 
continually  ejecting  rivers  of  lava — an  earth- 
quake, burying  whole  countries  in  ruin.  The  al- 
ledged  inaptitude  of  man  for  liberty,  is  the  effect 
of  the  oppressions  which  he  has  suffered  ;  and  un- 
til a  free  government  can  shed  its  propitious  influ- 
ence over  time — until,  perhaps,  a  new  generation 
has  risen  up  under  the  new  order  of  things,  with 
new  habits  and  new  principles,  society  will  be  in 
a  state  of  agitation  and  mutation,  faction  will  be 


Hughes'  Travels  in  Greece. 


11 


# 


lord  of  the  ascendant,  and  frenzy  and  fury,  denun- 
ciation and  proscription,  will  be  the  order  of  the 
day.  The  dileoiina  is  inevitable.  Either  the 
happiness  of  the  many,  or  the  predominance  of 
the  few,  must  be  sacriiiced.  The  flame  of  liberty 
and  the  light  of  knowledge,  emanate  from  the  same 
sacred  fire,  and  subsist  on  the  same  aliment  : 
And  the  seeds  of  instruction,  widely  dissemina- 
ted, will,  like  the  serpent's  teeth  in  the  Pagan 
mythology  that  were  sown  into  the  earth,  rise  up 
against  oppression  in  the  shape  of  the  iron  men  of 
Cadmus.  In  such  a  cause,  who  can  hesitate  to 
make  an  election  ?  The  factions  and  con^1llsions 
of  free  governments,  are  not  so  sanguinary  in  cha- 
racter, or  terrific  in  effects,  as  the  animosities  and 
intestine  wars  of  monarchies,  about  the  succession 
— the  insurrections  of  the  military — the  proscrip- 
tions of  the  priesthood,  and  the  cruelties  of  the  ad- 
ministration. The  spirit  of  a  republic  is  the 
friend,  and  the  genius  of  a  monarchy  is  the  ene- 
my, of  peace.  The  potentates  of  the  earth  have, 
for  centuries  back,  maintained  large  standing  ar- 
mies, and  on  the  most  frivolous  pretexts,  have  cre- 
ated havoc  and  desolation  :  And  when  we  com- 
pare the  world,  as  it  is  under  arbitrary  power, 
with  the  world  as  it  was  under  free  republics, 
what  an  awful  contrast  does  it  exhibit !  What  a 
solemn  lesson  does  it  inculcate  !  The  ministers  of 
famine  and  pestilence,  of  death  and  destruction, 
have  formed  the  van,  and  brought  up  the  rear,  of 


12 


despotic  authority.  The  monuments  of  the  arts — 
the  fabrics  of  genius  and  skill,  and  the  sublime 
erections  of  piety  and  science,  have  been  prostra- 
ted in  the  dust ;  and  the  places  where  Demosthe- 
nes and  Cicero  spoke,  where  Homer  and  Virgil 
sang,  and  where  Plato  and  Aristotle  taught,  are 
now  exhibited  as  mementos  of  the  perishable  na- 
ture of  human  glory.  The  forum  of  Rome  is  con- 
verted into  a  market  for  cattle  :*  The  sacred 
fountain  of  Castalia  is  surrounded,  not  by  the 
muses  and  the  graces,  but  by  the  semi-barbarous 
girls  of  Albania  if  The  laurel  groves,  and  the  de- 
ified heights  of  Parnassus,  are  the  asylum  of  ban- 
ditti :  Babylon  can  only  be  traced  by  its  bricks  : 
The  sands  of  the  desert  have  overwhelmed  the 
splendid  city  of  Palmyra,  and  are  daily  encroach- 
ing on  the  fertile  territories  of  the  Nile  ;  and  the 
Malaria  has  driven  man  from  the  fairest  portions 
of  Italy,  and  pursued  him  to  the  very  gates  of  the 
Eternal  City. 

Considerations  like  these  announce  to  us  in  the 
most  impressive  manner,  the  importance  of  our  po- 
sition in  the  civilized  world,  and  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  it.  The  reciprocal  action  of  know- 
ledge and  free  government  on  each  other,  partake 
in  some  measure  of  the  character  of  identity  :  for 
wherever  liberty  is  firmly  established,  knowledge 
must  be  a  necessary  concomitant.  And  if  we  de- 
sire to  occupy  this  exalted  ground — if  we  wish  to 


Eustace's  Italy.  t  Hughes' Travels. 


13 

improve,  to  extend,  and  to  perpetuate  the  blessings 
of  freedom,  it  is  essential,  absolutely  essential,  to 
improve,  to  extend,  and  to  perpetuate  the  blessings 
of  education.     Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves  by  the 
delusions  of  overweening  confidence,  and  the  chi- 
meras of  impregnable  security,  and  fondly  sup- 
pose that  we  are  to  rise  superior  to  the  calamities 
of  other  nations.     Our  climate  is  salubrious,  and 
we  are  free  from  pestilence — our  soil  is  fertile,  and 
famine  is  a  stranger — our  character  is  pacific,  and 
war  is  a  rare  occurrence ;  but  if  we  only  suppose 
a  relaxation  of  the  sinews  of  industry,  and  the 
presence  of  a  tigei>like  thirst  for  human  blood, 
then  the  consequent  neglect  of  productive  indus- 
try,  and  the  vast  accumulation  of  taxes,  would 
drain  the  resources  of  individuals,  and  impoverish 
the  public  treasury  ;  and  plague  and  famine,  po- 
verty and  depopulation,  would  follow  in  the  train 
of  pre-existing  calamities.     Nor  is  it  to  be  con- 
cealed, that  dangers  of  the  most  formidable  nature 
may  assail  us  from  other  sources — some  peculiar 
to  our  situation,  and  others  that  are  common  to  all 
free  states. 

Faction  and  luxury — the  love  of  money  and  the 
love  of  power,  were  the  hydra- headed  monsters 
that  destroyed  the  ancient  republics.  At  the  time 
that  the  Roman  commonwealth  was  overturned, 
all  ranks  of  men  were  so  corrupted,  that  tables 
were  publicly  set  out,  upon  which  the  candidates 
for  offices  were  professedly  ready  to  pay  the  peo- 


14 

pie  the  price  of  their  votes  ;  and  they  came  not 
only  to  give  their  voices  to  the  man  who  had  bought 
them,  but  with  all  manner  of  weapons  to  fight  for 
him.  Hence  it  often  happened,  tliat  they  did  not 
part  without  polluting  the  tribunal  with  blood  and 
murder,  and  the  city  was  a  perpetual  scene  of 
anarchy.*  The  justice  of  heaven  pursued  the 
perpetrators  of  these  enormities,  and  Rome  was 
scourged  with  a  series  of  the  most  detestable  ty- 
rants tliat  ever  disgraced  the  character  of  human- 
ity. Although  corruption  will  not  at  first  present 
itself  under  such  hideous  forms,  yet  its  approaches 
will  be  insidious,  undermining  and  dangerous.  It 
will  appeal  to  cupidity  and  to  ambition,  by  mag- 
nificent promises  and  by  donatives  of  office,  if  not 
by  largesses  of  money.  Good  men  are  too  often 
lethargic  and  inactive — bad  men  are  generally 
bold  and  adventurous.  And  unless  arrested  by 
the  vigilant  intclligeuce  and  virtuous  indignation 
of  the  community,  faction  will  in  process  of  time 
contaminate  all  the  sources  of  public  prosperity — 
a  deleterious  poison  will  be  infused  into  the  vital 
principles  of  the  body  politic — intrigue,  ignorance, 
and  impudence  will  be  the  passports  to  public  ho- 
nours— and  the  question  will  be,  not  whether  the 
man  is  fit  for  the  office,  but  whether  the  office  is  fit 
for  the  man.  In  this  crisis  of  the  republic,  its  de- 
generate and  unprincipled  sons  will  unite  in  a 
common  crusade  against  the  public  good,  and  will 

*  Plutarch. 


15 

encircle  the  land  with  a  cordon  of  coirupt  and 
daring  spirits,  like  the  peccant  humours  of  the 
body,  which,  in  a  dangerous  disease,  collect  in 
the  morbid  part  of  the  system. 

There  are  also  peculiar  circumstances  in  our 
situation,  which  ought  to  silence  high-toned  arro- 
gance, and  admonish  us  of  the  dangers  which  sur- 
round us.  The  experiment  of  a  great  empire, 
founded  on  the  federative  principle,  has  not  been 
fully  tested  by  the  efflux  of  time  and  the  pressure 
of  events.  The  ancient  democracies,  where  the 
people  legislated  in  person,  were  ruined  by  the 
smallness  of  their  area.  The  impulses  of  faction 
were  sudden,  unchecked,  and  overwhelming.  An 
extensive  republic,  like  ours,  may  be  destroyed  by 
a  conspiracy  of  the  members  against  the  head,  or 
the  power  of  government  may  be  spent  as  it  ex- 
tends, like  a  circle  in  the  water,  which  is  lost  by 
its  own  expansion.  And  an  apprehension  of  this 
occurrence  may  induce  the  establishment  of  stand- 
ing armies  in  the  extremities  of  the  empire,  which 
as  in  the  days  of  ancient  Rome,  will  rush  to  the 
capital,  to  divide  the  spoils  of  power  and  wealth. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  concealed,  that  a  spirit  is  active  in 
the  community,  which  tends  to  the  destruction  of 
the  union,  and  the  consequent  subversion  of  the 
best  hopes  of  man.  It  may  be  considered  as  giv- 
ing too  much  into  refinement,  to  intimate  that  the 
sectional  prejudices  which  prevail  in  certain  parts 
of  the  uniou;  may  be  derived  from  hereditary  an- 


16 


tipathies  and  feelings ;  and  that  as  the  eastern 
states  were  chiefly  settled  by  the  Puritans  or 
Roundheads  of  England,  and  the  principal  south- 
ern states  by  the  Cavaliers  or  Royalists,  a  diver- 
sity of  manners  was  entailed  on  their  progeny, 
which  has  tended  to  increase  and  exasperate  the 
ancient  animosities  that  were  at  the  same  time 
transmitted.  I  shall  not,  although  I  should  be 
fortified  by  the  great  names  of  Aristotle,  Bacon, 
jBerkeley,  Buffon  and  Montesquieu,  rely  on  the 
operation  of  physical  causes,  although  perhaps 
they  are  not  without  their  influence.  It  was  the 
opinion  of  the  Stagyrite,  that  the  climate  of  Greece 
was  the  best  possible  one  for  the  production  of 
great  men.  The  Greeks,  said  he,  hold  a  middle 
place  in  physical  and  moral  qualities,  as  well  as 
topographical  situation,  between  the  northern  Eu- 
ropeans and  the  southern  Asiatics,  possessing  the 
courage  of  the  former,  without  their  torpor  of  in- 
tellect, and  the  ingenuity  of  the  latter,  without 
their  abject  disposition.  Lord  Bacon  has  observ- 
ed, that  the  inhabitants  of  the  south  are  in  general 
more  ingenious  than  those  of  the  north  ;  but  that 
where  the  native  of  a  cold  climate  has  genius,  he 
rises  to  a  higher  pitch  than  can  be  realized  by  the 
southern  wits.  And  Bishop  Berkeley^  has  il- 
lustrated this  opinion,  by  comparing  the  southern 
wits  to  cucumbers,  which  are  commonly  all  good 
in  their  kind,  but  at  best  are  an  insipid  fruit,  while 


*  Berkeley's  Minute  Philosopher. 


17 

the  northern  geniuses  are  like  melons,  of  which 
not  one  in  fifty  is  good,  but  when  it  is  so,  it  has  au 
exquisite  relish.  However  pertinent  this  doctrine 
may  be,  where  it  was  intended  to  apply,  it  can 
have  but  little  weight  in  reference  to  us.  The 
difference  of  latitude  and  temperature  is  not  so 
great  as  to  produce  the  predicated  results  ;  and  so 
far  as  facts  can  be  ascertained,  they  will  not  bear 
out  the  ascription.  It  is  probable  that  the  causes 
so  much  to  be  deprecated,  come  under  the  deno- 
mination of  moral,  and  are  to  he  found  in  slavery  ; 
for  wherever  it  prevails,  it  generates  an  anti-com- 
mercial and  anti-manufacturing  spirit ;  and  at  the 
same  time,  it  produces  a  lofty  sense  of  independ- 
ence, which  is  among  the  strongest  preservatives 
of  our  republican  governments.  In  the  other 
states,  Avhere  commerce  and  manufactures  are  cul- 
tivated as  well  as  agriculture,  there  is  no  real  col- 
lision of  interest  with  the  states  purely  agricultural. 
There  is,  on  the  contrary,  an  identity ;  and  al- 
though the  prosperity  of  each  is  the  prosperity  of 
all,  yet  jealousies  will  spring  out  of  the  legislative 
encouragement  and  protection  of  these  great  in- 
terests. To  encourage  the  fabrics  of  art,  is  to  en- 
courage the  fabrics  of  nature — to  protect  manufac- 
tures, is  to  advance  the  growth  of  the  raw  mate- 
rials of  which  they  are  made — to  countenance 
commerce,  is  to  countenance  cheapness  of  trans- 
portation and  goodness  of  market — and  to  promote 
the  wealth  of  any  member  or  section  of  the  union; 

3 


IS 


is  to  enhauce  its  ability  to  use  the  fabrics  and  to 
consume  the  productions  of  the  other.  The  grow- 
ing expansion  of  liberal  feelings,  and  the  illumi- 
nating progress  of  political  philosophy,  have  had 
a  salutary  tendency  in.  checking  prejudices  and 
antipathies  which  have  too  much  prevailed.  But, 
little  to  our  honour,  I  speak  it  with  regret,  they 
liave  been  recently  excited  by  a  contest  of  eques- 
trian swiftness.  In  the  Olympic  games^  where  en- 
lightened Greece  assembled,  where  Homer  recited 
bis  poem  and  Thucydides  his  history,  the  laurel- 
ed crown,  the  "  palma  nobilis,"*  was  awarded  to 
the  man,  not  to  the  beast ;  but  the  late  display  re- 
minds us  of  the  degenerate  days  of  Rome,  when  a 
horse  was  raised  to  the  honours  of  the  consulship  ; 
and  of  the  Prasini  and  the  Yeneti,  the  green  and 
blue  factions,  which  arose  from  those  colours  of 
livery  in  horse-races,  and  which  accelerated,  if 
not  occasioned  the  ruin  of  the  Greek  empire. f 

The  necessity  of  counteracting  the  tendency  of 
all  human  institutions  to  debasement — of  guarding 
with  eificacious  circumspection  against  the  ad- 
vances of  anarchy  and  tyranny,  and  of  preventing 
the  evils  to  which  we  are  peculiarly  exposed  from 
expanded  territory  and  geographical  prejudices, 
must  be  obvious  ;  and  for  this  purpose,  it  is  essen- 
tial to  attend,  with  increased  zeal,  to  the  great  in- 
terests of  education,  and  to  promote  with  un relax- 
ed fervor  the  sacred  cause  of  science.     Education 

*  Horace.  t  Gibbon, 


19 

iucludes  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  culture — the 
georgics  of  the  heart  as  well  as  of  the  head  ;  and 
we  must  emphatically  look  up  to  a  general  diffusion 
of  knowledge  as  the  palladium  of  a  free  govern- 
ment— the  guarantee  of  the  representative  system^ 
and  the  segis  of  our  federative  existence. 

Is  it  necessary,  on  this  occasion,  to  show  the 
important  connexion  between  science  and  all 
the  arts,  which  contribute  to  the  sustenance,  the 
accommodation,  and  the  embellishment  of  human 
life  ?  The  analytic  researches  of  chemistry  have 
opened  to  us  a  knowledge  of  the  constituent  parts 
of  soils,  minerals,  vegetables,  and  other  substan- 
ces, and  have  developed  their  useful  application. 
From  the  first  conception  of  the  propulsion  of  ves- 
sels by  steam  by  the  Marquis  of  Worcester,  to  its 
consummation  by  Fulton,  how  slow  was  the  pro- 
gress— how  difficult  the  accomplishment  !  And 
this  could  never  have  been  effected,  had  it  not  re- 
ceived the  aids  of  chemical  discovery,  of  mathe- 
matical calculation,  and  of  mechanical  philoso- 
phy. All  that  relates  to  the  economy  of  labor  by 
machinery — to  the  facilitation  of  intercourse  by 
canals  and  bridges — to  naval,  civil,  and  military 
architecture — ^to  the  improvement  of  agriculture — 
to  the  advancement  of  the  mechanic  arts — must  be 
derived,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  scientific  re- 
search. 

It  is  an  ordinance  of  heaven,  that  map  must  be 
employed,  or  be  unhappy.    Mental  or  corporeal 


^ 


labor  is  the  destination  of  his  nature  ;  and  when 
he  ceases  to  be  active,  he  ceases  to  be  useful,  and 
descends  to  the  level  of  vegetable  life  :  And  cer- 
tainly those  pursuits  which  call  into  activity  his 
intellectual  pow^ers,  must  contribute  most  to  his 
felicity,  his  dignity  and  his  usefulness.  The  vig- 
orous direction  of  an  active  mind  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  good  objects,  forms  its  most  extatic 
delights.  "  Haec  studia  adolescentiam  alunt,  se- 
nectutem  oblectant,  secundas  res  ornant,  adversis 
perfugium  ac  solatium  prsEbent,  delectant  domi, 
non  impediunt  foris,  pernoctant  nobiscum,  pere- 
grinantur,  rusticantur."* 

The  honor  and  glory  of  a  nation  consist  in  the 
illustrious  achievements  of  its  sons  in  the  cabinet 
and  the  field — in  the  science  and  learning  which 
compose  the  knowledge  of  man — in  the  arts  and 
inventions  which  administer  to  his  accommodation, 
and  in  the  virtues  which  exalt  his  character. 
Scarcely  tWo  centuries  have  elapsed  since  the  set- 
tlement of  these  United  States,  and  in  that  period 
we  have  seen  a  Washington,  a  Henry,  a  Fit  an  k- 
LIN,  a  RiTTENHOusE,  and  a  Fulton — the  most 
splendid  names  in  w  ar,  in  eloquence,  in  philoso- 
phy, in  astronomy,  and  in  mechanics,  which  the 
World  has  ever  witnessed.  The  congress  of  pa- 
triots who  proclaimed  our  independence  in  the 
face  of  an  admiring  world,  and  in  the  view  of  ap- 
ptoving  heaven,  have  descended,   with  three  ex- 

♦*  Cicero. 


21 

ceptioiis,  to  the  grave  ;  and  in  this  ilhistrious  band 
were  comprised  more  virtue  and  wisdom,  and  pa- 
triotism and  energy,  than  in  any  association  of  an- 
cient or  modern  times.  I  might  proceed,  and  pro- 
nounce an  eulogium  on  our  savans  who  have  illus- 
trated philosophy  and  the  exact  sciences — on  our 
literati,  who  have  explored  the  depths  and  as- 
cended the  heights  of  knowledge — on  our  poets, 
who  have  strung  the  lyre  of  Apollo — on  our  pain- 
ters, who  have  combined  the  sublime  and  the 
beautiful  in  the  graphic  art — on  our  statesmen, 
who  have  taught  the  ways  and  means  of  establish- 
ing the  greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number 
— and  on  our  theologians,  who  have  vindicated 
the  ways  of  God  to  man.  But  I  forbear.  Tlie 
task  of  selection  is  at  all  times  invidious  ;  and 
most  of  the  distinguished  men  to  whom  I  allude, 
are  still  living,  and  probably  some  of  them  are 
now  present :  And  I  ought  certainly  neither  to 
offend  their  modesty,  nor  violate  my  sense  of  self- 
respect,  by  the  obtrusion  of  praise  which  is  not 
required  by  the  occasion,  and  which  will  be  more 
suitably,  and  unquestionably  most  liberally,  dis- 
pensed by  future  times. 

When  we  consider  the  small  areas  in  which  the 
insignia  of  human  greatness  have  been  displayed, 
we  will  find  equal  cause  for  astonishment  and  ex- 
ultation. Attica  Avas  not  more  extensive  than 
some  of  our  counties,  and  the  whole  of  Greece  did 
not  exceed  this  state  in  dimensions.     Rome,  for  a 


1 

!oug  period,  did  not  cover  as  great  an  extent :  And 
the  Swiss  Cantons^  the  United  Netherlands,  and 
England,  when  compared  w  ith  the  illustrious  men 
and  the  illustrious  deeds  of  which  they  can  boast, 
are  of  a  very  limited  space.  The  United  States 
contain  more  than  a  twentieth  part  of  the  land  of 
this  globe,  and  not  600,000  square  miles  less  than 
the  whole  of  Europe.  The  Deity  has  placed  us 
on  a  mighty  continent  :  The  plastic  hand  of  na- 
ture has  operated  on  a  stupendous  scale  :  Our  riv- 
ers and  lakes — our  cataracts  and  mountains— our 
soil  and  climate — bear  the  impress  of  greatness, 
of  fertility,  of  salubrity.  In  this  spacious  thea- 
tre, replete^w  ith  the  sublime  and  the  beautiful,  let 
us  act  a  correspondent  part.  This  state,  which 
now  has  a  population  of  a  million  and  a  lialf,  is 
capable  of  supporting  ten  millions  of  souls,  and 
before  this  century  closes,  this  maximum  will  be 
attained.  And  if  in  the  councils  of  the  Almighty 
it  is  decreed,  that  we  shall  continue  to  advance  in 
all  that  can  render  a  people  intelligent  and  virtu- 
ous, prosperous  and  happy,  w  ith  w  hat  reverence 
will  posterity  regard  t!ie  memory  of  those  who 
have  laid  the  foundation  of  such  greatness  and  re- 
iimvn  ! 

The  elementary  parts  of  education  in  common 
schools,  are  the  substrata  of  the  studies  of  tlie 
academy  and  the  college — and  then  again  the  ac- 
quisitions of  those  institutions  become  the  basis  of 
professional  pursuits  in  divinity,  law    or  medi- 


23 


ciue,  and  the  foundation  of  that  information  which 
leads  to  more  momentous  advances  in  the  cabinet, 
the  senate  or  the  field — which  penetrates  the  re- 
gions of  discovery  and  invention,  and  which  en- 
lighteus  the  world  by  literary  disquisition  and 
scientific  investigation.  Giving  full  credit  to  all 
the  benefits  derived  from  the  prescribed  courses  of 
collegiate  studies,  perhaps  the  faculties  of  young 
men  are  more  powerfully  evolved  by  institutions 
like  the  present,  which  generate  habits  of  obser- 
vation and  reflection,  and  which  produce  ability 
in  composition  and  facility  in  public  speaking. 
And  equally  striking  are  the  benefits  of  the  exten- 
sive libraries  within  reach,  where  the  "  relics  of 
the  ancient  saints  of  literature,  full  of  true  virtue 
and  without  delusion  or  imposture,"*  and  the 
oblations  and  ojfferings  of  the  votaries  of  learn- 
ing in  other  times,  are  preserved. 

The  field  of  honour  and  usefulness  is  now  be- 
fore you.  Whatever  direction  you  take,  what- 
ever course  you  adopt,  it  is  in  your  power  to  be- 
come eminent.  The  first  man  in  his  profession  is 
often  absolutely,  and  always  relatively,  a  great 
man.  In  this  country  particularly,  every  man 
has  it  in  his  power  to  be  the  architect  of  his  own 
fortune.  And  when  he  rises,  let  him  ascend  the 
pyramid  of  greatness,  not  by  the  creeping  tortu- 
ous windings  of  the  reptile,  but  by  the  sublime 
flight  of  the  bird  of  Jove.     The  eagle  erects  his 

"  BacoB, 


24 

aei'ie  on  the  mountain  top — looks  at  the  sun  with 
undazzled  eyes,  and  defies  the  thunder  and  the 
lightning.  The  serpent  creeps  on  the  earth,  hides 
in  the  cavern,  and  sinks  into  torpidity. 

Without  referring  to  the  inducements  for  exer- 
tion arising  from  the  successful  enterprises  of  our 
citizens  at  home,  it  must  be  sufficient  to  animate 
you  to  active  industry,  by  pointing  out  the  harvest 
of  profit  and  glory  which  has  been  reaped  abroad. 
West,  of  Pennsylvania,  has  delighted  and  aston- 
ished the  world  by  his  pictorial  performances. 
Murray,  of  New- York,  has  ^\Titten  the  best  w  ork 
on  English  Grammar,  evincing  a  mind  of  the 
most  lucid,  discriminating  and  arranging  consti- 
tution, and  he  is  now  enjoying  the  rewards  of  his 
piety  and  erudition,  in  the  smiles  of  an  approving 
conscience,  and  in  the  plaudits  of  good  men.  JPer- 
kins,  of  Massachusetts,  is  now  pushing  that  won- 
derful invention,  the  steam  engine,  to  the  utmost 
verge  of  perfection.  Many  of  our  enterprising 
youth  are  now  traversing  sea  and  land  in  the  pur- 
suit of  science — some  are  seated  in  the  celebrated 
schools  of  medicine  and  natural  science — some  are 
in  the  great  cities  examining  the  fabrics  of  art,  the 
machinery  and  processes  of  manufacturing — the 
movements  and  evolutions  of  commerce,  and  the 
complex  relations  of  political  economy.  Others 
are  moving  in  various  directions,  improving  their 
information  in  agriculture,  their  taste  in  the  fine 
arts,  and  adding  to  their  knowledge  of  men  and 


S9 


things.  A  late  writer*  mentions  that  at  a  popu- 
lar point  of  his  tour  in  Switzerland,  it  appeared 
from  a  register  which  he  consulted,  that  even 
in  that  sequestered  region  the  proportion  of  Amer- 
ican travellers  was  respectable. 

The  revolution  in  navigation  is  the  most  aston- 
ishing portion  of  history.  Wherever  great  com- 
munications can  be  maintained  by  water,  the  seats 
of  commerce  and  navigation,  of  dense  population 
and  extensive  dominion,  will  be  established  at 
those  places.  Before  the  discovery  of  the  mag- 
net, navigation  was  generally  within  sight  of 
land.  Who  does  not  smile  when  he  reads  of  the 
ten  years  wanderings  and  sufferings  of  Ulysses 
from  Ilium  in  Asia  Minor  to  the  little  island  of 
Ithaca,  which  within  a  few  years  has  been  taken 
possession  of  by  a  British  sergeant  and  his  guard,f 
and  of  the  terrific  and  appalling  adventures  of  the 
pious  iEneas  in  a  voyage  from  the  former  place  to 
Italy  ?  If  an  epic  poem  w  ere  now  written,  con- 
ceived by  the  sublime  genius  of  Homer,  and  ma- 
tured I)y  the  embellished  taste  and  correct  judg- 
ment of  Virgil,  describing  in  "  thoughts  that 
breathe  and  words  that  burn,"|  the  voyage  of  a 
hero  full  of  emprise  and  pregnant  with  danger 
from  the  city  of  New-York  to  the  Island  of  St. 
Domingo,  or  tlie  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  (the  full 
distance  of  the  progress  of  Ulysses  and  jEneas) 
although  it  might  be  sustained  by  all  the  interest 


*  Simond.  t  Hobhouse'a  travels.  J.  Gray, 

4 


arising  from  important  episodes  and  preternatntal 
machinery,  yet  the  essence  of  the  poem  would  be 
so  absurd  that  no  genius  or  management  could 
protect  it  from  the  hue  and  cry  of  universal  con- 
tempt. The  Mediterranean  sea  was  the  locus  of 
ancient  navigation,  and  on  its  borders  sprung  up  in 
succession,  the  four  great  monarchies — the  Assyri- 
an, the  Persian,  the  Grecian  and  the  Roman  : 
and  '^  all  our  religion — almost  all  our  law — al- 
most all  our  arts — almost  all  that  sets  us  above 
savages,  have  come  to  us  from  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean."*  The  mariners  compass  has 
opened  the  gates  of  the  great  oceans,  and  the  en- 
terprising spirit,  formerly  imprisoned  in  a  small 
space,  has  spread  over  the  globe,  carrying  with  it 
the  riches  of  commerce  and  the  refinements  of 
knowledge.  A  voyage  to  Europe  is  now  consid- 
ered an  excursion  of  pleasure  :  a  voyage  to  China 
is  viewed  as  a  common  occurrence,  and  even  a 
voyage  of  circumnavigation  round  the  globe,  which 
was  formerly  contemplated  with  more  apprehen- 
sion than  all  the  labors  of  Hercules,  passes  with- 
out much  observation.  This  spirit  has  extended 
to  all  modes  of  travelling  and  all  objects  of  dis- 
covery. The  application  of  steam  to  the  propul- 
sion of  boats — the  establishment  of  swift  packets 
—the  improvement  of  natural  and  the  creation  of 
artificial  water-courses,  have  produced  the  ap- 
proximation of  remote  places  and  substituted  con- 


*  Dr.  Johnson. 


27 

tigaity  in  lieu  of  distance.  In  former  times,  and 
within  the  recollection  of  some  who  hear  me,  a 
voyage  to  Oswego,  or  a  journey  to  Niagara,  was 
considered  a  difficult  and  bold  enterprise,  and  the 
Island  of  Michillimackinack  was  viewed  as  the 
ultima  Thule  of  America.  All  parts  of  the  world 
are  now  explored  by  American  enterprise  :  and 
if  we  reap  so  nobly  the  fruits  of  our  industry  and 
capacity  in  exertions  abroad,  a  much  more  exten-? 
sivc  harvest  of  glory  remains  for  our  operations  at 
home. 

Linnaeus  has  truly  observed,  that  *^  what  we 
know  of  the  Divine  works,  are  much  fewer  than 
those  of  which  we  are  ignorant."  The  first  edi- 
tion of  his  Species  Plantarum  contained  only  7300 
plants,  and  now  upwards  of  50,000  are  enume- 
rated ;  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  our  forests,  our 
marshes  and  our  mountains,  contain  the  most  in- 
teresting non-descripts.  Zoology  has  been  very 
partially  cultivated.  Almost  all  our  mammalia^ 
many  of  our  fishes,  amphibia  and  birds,  have  been 
arranged  and  described.  Entomology  has  been, 
I  may  say,  altogether  overlooked,  and  mineralogy 
and  geology  present  unbounded  scope  for  investi- 
gation. In  some  of  our  great  seminaries  of  in- 
struction, the  elements  of  natural  science  are 
taught,  and  our  young  physicians  generally  go 
into  active  life  with  adequate  initiatory  informa- 
tion. We  have  lyceums  established  in  various 
places,  which  will  serve  as  schools  of  natural  bis- 


m 

tory,  and  as  depositories  of  its  treasures.  Wher- 
ever a  subject  has  been  properly  and  scientifically 
described,  it  can  always  be  recognized  from  the 
description.  But  here  the  functions  of  the  piiilo* 
sopher  do  not  terminate  :  the  species  is,  to  be 
sure,  determined — its  generic  character  ascertain- 
ed, and  it  is  enrolled  by  a  name  in  its  appropriate 
order  and  class — but  a  still  more  expanded  field 
of  observation  and  enquiry  remains :  you  are  in-t 
troduced  to  a  stranger — his  name  is  announced^ 
and  you  have  observed  his  external  form  and 
manners  ;  but  can  you  be  said  to  understand  his 
character,  until  you  have  sounded  the  depths  and 
shallows  of  his  mind,  and  examined  the  good  and 
bad  qualities  of  his  heart — the  variations  of  his 
conduct — the  impulses,  predilections,  and  preju- 
dices which  tinge  the  colour  of  his  life,  and  the 
variety  of  lights  and  shades  which  enter  into  the 
composition  of  his  character?  In  like  manner, 
you  may  see  a  mineral,  a  plant  or  an  animal — may 
learn  its  name,  and  understand  its  scientific  ar- 
rangements ;  but  your  knowledge  of  it  would  be 
very  imperfect,  and  almost  altogether  useless,  un- 
less you  proceed  further,  and  investigate  its  habit- 
ats and  localities — its  properties  and  uses — and 
if  an  organized  being,  its  manners,  its  morals,  and 
its  habits.  And  owing  to  the  neglect  of  these  ob' 
vious  and  important  considerations,  natural  sci- 
ence has  not  attained  its  merited  rank  in  the  scale 
of  utility,  and  in  the  estimation  of  the  public. 


The  prodigal  creation  of  genera — the  preposterous 
multiplication  of  species — the  adoption  of  new  no- 
menclatures— the  augmentation  of  synonymes — 
and  the  conversion  of  varieties  into  species,  and  of 
species  into  genera,  have  darkened  the  science 
with  myriads  of  useless  and  barharous  terms — 
have  sullied  its  lustre,  and  depreciated  its  sterling 
merits.  "  If  every  minute  difference,  every  trifling 
variation,"  said  Linnseus  in  a  letter  to  Haller,  "  is 
to  establish  a  new  species,  why  should  I  delay  to 
exhibit  ten  thousand  such  species  ?" 

Vanity  furnishes  a  sufficient  fund  of  induce- 
ment for  this  ridiculous  course.  A  new  species, 
or  a  new  genus,  entitles  the  nomencLator  to  the 
honors  of  a  discovery  ;  and  in  acting  the  god- 
father, he  will  probably  select  the  name  of  a 
friend,  and  expect  in  time  the  return  of  the  com 
pliment.  The  dealers  in  specimens,  have  also  a 
direct  interest  in  the  increase  and  confusion  of  no- 
menclature :  For  every  new  name  of  the  same 
substance,  an  addition  may  be  made  to  the  stock 
of  their  commodities,  and  the  range  of  their  sales* 
But  the  honors  of  a  new  system  of  arrangement 
are  too  flattering  and  transcendant  not  to  be  at- 
tempted ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  the  -system 
of  Linnjeus  has  been  mutilated,  and  iii  a  great  de- 
gree displaced,  and  new  ones  substituted,  which 
have  introduced  ^'  the  reign  of  chaos  and  old 
night"  into  natural  science.  It  has  indeed  in 
somp    *  "•stances  been  judiciously  modified,   and 


m 

greatly  ameliorated.  But  better  for  the  cause  of 
knowledge  to  have  an  uniform  system,  with  many 
defects,  than  to  be  perplexed  and  embarrassed 
with  a  diversity.  We  can  travel  on  one  highway 
without  losing  ourselves,  but  if  we  are  bewildered 
by  many  roads  and  bye-paths,  our  progress  will 
be  slow,  uncertain  and  erroneous.  When  philos- 
ophy consists  in  words  and  not  in  things,  it  loses 
its  body  and  becomes  a  shadow — it  changes  the 
real  for  the  nominal  :  And  it  is  not  too  uncharita- 
ble to  say,  that  the  philosophers  of  terminology 
assume  the  physiognomy  of  knowledge,  and  con- 
ceal the  absence  of  ideas  by  the  use  of  hard  words, 
as  the  cuttle-fish  merges  itself  in  concealment  by 
the  dark  fluid  which  it  emits. 

This  endless  jargon  of  nomenclature — this 
"  rudis  indigestaque  moles"*  of  science,  has  im- 
posed a  moral  duresse  upon  the  freedom  of  the 
mind  :  and  the  votary  of  nature  cannot  penetrate 
the  adytum  of  its  holy  temple,  without  encounter- 
ing the  same  obstacles  which  the  knight  of  chiv- 
alry had  to  sustain,  when  he  endeavored  to  force 
his  way  into  an  enchanted  castle,  through  the  op- 
position of  dragons,  lions,  giants  9,nd  genii,  gor- 
gons,  hydras,  and  chimseras  dire  :  and  thehumaa 
mind,  borne  down  with  a  load  of  verbage,  is  doom- 
ed to  suffer  an  intellectual  torture,  like  prisoners 
in  England,  who,  on  their  arraignment,  refusing 
to  plead,  and  standing  mute,  were  sentenced  to  un- 

*  Ovid. 


31 

dcrgo  the  peine  forte  et  dure,  and  to  be  smothered 
to  death  under  weights  piled  on  their  recumbent 
bodies.  And  unquestionably,  these  innovations 
are  as  deteriorating  as  the  scholastic  philosophy 
introduced  by  the  commentators  on  Aristotle — a 
philosophy  of  words  and  notions — distinctions 
and  subtleties — abstract  ideas  and  occult  quali- 
ties— that  either  covered  the  intellectual  world 
with  darkness,  or  glimmered  like  shadows  in  the 
twilight,  which  the  eye  could  hardly  distinguish 
from  the  surrounding  gloom.  All  such  proceed- 
ings would  indicate  "  as  if  there  were  sought  in 
knowledge  a  couch  whereupon  to  rest  an  uneasy 
spirit ;  or  a  terrace  for  a  wandering  mind  to  walk 
up  and  down,  with  a  fair  prospect ;  or  a  tower  of 
state  for  a  proud  mind  to  rest  itself  upon ;  or  a 
fort,  or  commanding  ground,  for  strife  and  conten- 
tion ;  or  a  ship  for  profit  or  sale,  and  not  a  rich 
store-house  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  benefit 
of  man."* 

Shall  we  then  call  on  some  transcendent  gen- 
ius to  dispel  the  darkness  ?  Some  intellectual 
Hercules,  to  purify  the  Augean  stable  ?  Some 
mighty  Bacon,  to  act  the  great  deliverer  ? 

The  great  deliverer  he  !  who,  from  the  gloom  '^ 

Of  cloister'd  monks  and  jargon-teaching  schools, 
Led  forth  the  true  philosophy, — here  long 
Held  in  the  magic  chain  of  words  and  forms, 
And  definitions  void  :  He  led  her  forth, 

**  Bacon. 


3S 


^^^^^^  J>augbter  of  heaven  :— Tbat,  slow  ascending,  still 
Investigating  sure  the  chain  of  things, 
With  radiant  finger  points  to  heav'n  again > 

This  gloomy  representation  must  not,  however, 
produce  despondence,  and  the  amateur  need  not 
take  the  Leucadian  leap,  in  despair  of  attaining 
theohject  of  his  fond  devotions.  The  leading  sa- 
vaus  of  France  have  combined  to  restore  the  bo- 
tanical part  of  the  Linnaaan  system.  A  general 
disgust  is  rising  up  against  the  mummery  of  sci- 
ence, and  time  and  light  will  soon  exercise  a  san- 
ative power  over  the  disease. 

Some  foreign  governments  have  now  in  this 
country,  agents  to  collect  our  productions.  Sci- 
entific  foreigners  are  now  exploring  it  w  ith  micro- 
scopic eyes,  and  some  standard  works  have  pro- 
ceeded from  their  pens.  Pursh,  and  the  MU 
chaux  in  botany,  and  Wilson  in  ornithology^ 
may  be  mentioned  as  peculiarly  meritorious. 

Mineralogy  has  also  attracted  great  attention 
from  abroad,  as  well  as  at  home.  And  we  can 
boast  of  Cleaveland,  whose  work  gives  an  admi- 
rable view  of  the  science ;  and  of  Silliman,  in  na- 
tural history  generally,  whose  periodical  publica- 
tions reflect  lustre  on  the  investigating  spirit  of  our 
country.  It  requires  more  practice  than  genius 
to  detect  the  nature  of  minerals  ;  and  no  person 
need  despair  of  success,  M'hether  he  proceed  to  the 
developement  by  external  appearance,   chemical 

*  Thompson. 


33 

analysis,  crystalline  structure,  or  optical  cbarac- 
ter.  Geology  treats  of  the  structure  and  relative 
position  of  the  substances  which  compose  the  crust 
of  the  earth — forms  an  admirable  illustration  of 
the  power,  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  the  Deity  ^ 
and  so  far  as  it  rests  on  ascertained  phenomena,  is 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  cosmogony  of  Mo- 
ses. In  cultivating  it,  we  ought  particularly  to 
follow  the  inductive  method  of  Bacon,  and  to  attend 
exclusively  to  facts.  It  may  amuse  the  imagina- 
tion to  read  the  romances  of  scientific  men,  in  the 
shape  of  theories  of  the  earth.  Whether  this 
earth  is  an  extinguished  sun,  or  a  vitrified  globe, 
or  an  animal  possessed  of  living  faculties,  or  a 
splinter  of  the  sun,  or  a  concoction  of  chemical  af- 
finities and  mechanical  deposition,  or,  by  falling 
into  the  great  deep,  has  been  split  into  a  thousand 
fragments,  or  ])een  disorganized  and  shattered  by 
the  iupiugment  of  a  comet,  are  enquiries  little 
calculated  to  instruct  the  understanding.  The 
specious  figments  of  genius,  and  the  erratic  flights 
of  philosophy,  may  excite  our  wonder,  but  they 
cannot  stand  the  ordeal  of  scrutiny,  or  the  Lydian 
touch  of  experiment. 

Time  will  scarcely  permit  even  a  short  allusion 
to  the  exact  sciences,  agriculture  and  the  mechan- 
ic arts,  polite  literature,  the  fine  artsn,  and  political 
philosophy:  all  of  which  open  subjects  of  the 
most  interesting  character,  that  bear  directly  upon 
the  general  welfare  ;  and  all  of  them  present  the 

5 


34 

strongest  incentives  to  the  love  of  fame,^  which  is 
the  gi-eat  principle  of  the  noble  mind^  and  the  last 
that  it  resigns.  It  is  a  common  remark,  that  "  ni- 
hil dictum  quod  non  dictum  prius,"  and  some  are 
even  so  absurd  as  to  suppose,  that  the  stock  of  ori- 
ginal ideas  is  exhausted.  Much,  no  doubt,  has 
been  anticipated,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  much 
remains  untouched  and  unnoticed.  Some  of  the 
greatest  discoveries  have  been  so  contemporaneous, 
that  it  has  been  impossible  to  establish  a  charge  of 
plagiarism.  Many  ideas  are  original,  as  it  res- 
pects the  author,  and  yet  are  not  new:  in  which  case 
the  conception  is  more  vivid,  and  the  impression 
more  powerful,  than  when  of  a  derivative  charac- 
ter. The  infinite  combinations  of  which  the  mind 
is  susceptible — the  lights  and  shades  which  the 
imagination  can  cast  upon  all  subjects,  and  the 
powerful  action  of  the  understanding,  in  measur- 
ing the  relations  of  ideas — in  surveying  the  con- 
stitutions of  things — in  penetrating  the  secrets  of 
nature,  and  developing  the  properties  of  mind  and 
matter,  furnish  conclusive  evidence  of  the  progres- 
sive improvement  of  our  faculties,  and  of  their  ca- 
pacity to  elicit  new  ideas  on  all  subjects,  and  to 
make  discoveries  of  all  kinds.  Some  inventions 
are  the  offspring  of  accident,  as  gunpowder,  print- 
ing, and  the  mariner's  compass.  Others,  are  the 
result  of  a  happy  impulse.      Some  assume  ma- 

*  Tacitus. 


/■ 


35 


turity  at  the  first  inception,  like  Pallas,  who 
sprang  from  the  head  of  Jove,  completely  arm- 
ed with  the  panoply  of  wisdom.  While  most 
discoveries  have  proceeded  gradually  to  perfec- 
tion, like  our  majestic  Hudson,  which,  although 
small  in  its  origin,  yet,  by  the  addition  of  fresh 
streams  in  its  career  to  the  ocean,  becomes  at  last 
able  to  bear  ships  of  the  greatest  burden.  We 
are  as  prone  to  shoot  beyond  as  to  shoot  short  of 
the  mark  ;  and  notliing  is  more  pernicious  to  the 
discovery  of  truth,  than  a  refining  and  sophistica- 
ting spirit,  which  infects  every  subject  with  its 
perverse  and  diminutive  views.  An  illustrious 
writer*  has  well  observed,  that  "  men  are  accus-. 
tomed  to  take  a  prospect  of  nature  from  some  high 
tower,  to  view  her  at  a  distance,  and  to  be  too 
much  absorbed  in  generalities.  Whereas,  if  they 
would  vouchsafe  to  descend,  approach  nearer  to 
particulars,  and  more  exactly  and  considerately 
look  into  things  themselves,  there  might  be  a  more 
true  and  valuable  comprehension  and  discovery." 
And  let  it  be  understood,  "  that  the  wonders  of  na- 
ture lie  out  of  the  high  road  and  beaten  paths,  so 
that  the  vpry  absurdity  of  an  attempt  may  some- 
times be  felicitous."!  The  mind,  matured  by 
deep  and  continual  meditation — enlightened  by 
wise  and  learned  conversation — and  fertilized  by 
judicious  and  extensive  reading,  resembles   that 

•  Bacon.  t  Ibid. 


36 

splendid  metal  which  was  formed  from  tlie  fusion 
of  many  minerals  in  the  great  conflagration  at  Co- 
rinth. Like  the  crucible  of  the  akhymist,  it  will  in- 
deed aspire  to  creative  power :  like  the  deflagrator 
and  the  galvanic  battery,  it  pursues  nature  into  the 
most  occult  recesses,  and  tortures  her  into  a  con- 
fession of  her  most  important  secrets  ;  and  like 
the  poet's  eye,  it  glances  from  heaven  to  earth, 
from  earth  to  heaven,  and  as  imagination  bodies 
forth  the  forms  of  things  unknown,  turns  them  to 
shape,  and  gives  to  airy  nothing  a  local  habitation 
and  a  name.* 

Let  us  then  be  vigilant  and  active  in  the  great 
and  holy  cause  of  knowledge.  The  field  of  glory 
stretches  before  you  in  wide  expanse.  Untrodden 
heights  and  unknown  lands  surround  you.  Waste 
not,  however,  your  energies  on  subjects  of  a  frivo- 
lous nature,  of  useless  curiosity,  or  impracticable 
attainment.  Books  have  been  multiplied  to  de- 
signate the  writer  of  Junius — the  Man  in  the  Iron 
Mask  has  exercised  the  inquisitorial  attention  of 
Europe — and  perpetual  motion,  the  philosopher's 
stone,  and  the  immortal  elixir,  have  destroyed  the 
lives  and  fortunes  of  thousands.  Genuine  philo- 
sophy has  sometimes  its  aberrations,  and  like  the 
Spartan  king  or  Roman  emperor,  mingles  in  the 
amusements  of  children.  The  sceptre  of  science 
is  too  often  surrounded  by  toys  and  baubles,  and 
even  LinnsBus  condescended  to  amuse  his  fancy 

*  Shakespeare. 


with  the  creation  of  vegetable  ilials  and  orientat 
pearls.  Innovation  without  improvement,  and 
experiments  without  discoveries,  are  the  rocks  on 
which  ingenuity  is  too  often  shipwrecked. 

"  Omne  ignotum  pro  magniflco,"*  said  the  pro- 
found historian  of  Rome.  Wonder  is  the  child  of 
ignorance,  and  vanity  the  offspring  of  imbecility. 
Let  us  be  astonished  at  nothing  but  our  own  apa- 
thy, and  cease  to  be  vain  even  of  our  virtues.  The 
fragrance  of  the  humble  lily  of  the  valley,  and  of 
the  retiring  eglantine  of  the  woods,  is  more  grate- 
ful to  genuine  taste,  than  the  expressed  odour  of 
the  queen  of  flowers,  or  the  most  costly  products  of 
the  chemical  alembic. 

In  our  literary  pursuits,  let  us  equally  reject  a 
blind  credulity  that  believes  every  fable,  and  a 
universal  pyrrhonisra  that  repudiates  all  truths — a 
canine  appetite,  which  devours  every  thing  how- 
ever light,  and  digests  nothing  however  aliment- 
ary— and  a  fastidious  taste,  which  delights  not  in 
the  nutritious  viand,  but  seeks  its  gratification  in 
the  aromatic  dessert. 

The  waters  of  ancient  learning  ought  to  be 
drunk  at  the  fountain  head  in  preference  to  the 
streams.  We  are  too  prone  to  rely  on  references, 
quotations,  abridgments  and  translations.  The 
consequence  is,  that  the  meaning  of  the  original 
frequently  reaches  us  in  a  perverted  or  erroneous 
shape — its  etherial  spirit  evaporates  by  a  change 

*  Tacitus. 


38 

of  conveyance,  and  we  lose  our  acquaintance  with 
the  learned  languages.  A  fault  equally  common, 
and  more  humiliating,  is  an  idolatrous  veneration 
for  the  literary  men  of  Europe.  This  intellectual 
vassallage  has  been  visited  by  high-toned  arro- 
gance and  malignant  vituperation.  Harmless  in- 
deed is  the  calumny,  and  it  recoils  from  the  object 
like  the  javelin  thrown  by  the  feeble  hand  of  old 
Priam  ;  but  it  ought  to  combine  with  other  in- 
ducements to  encourage  a  vernacular  literature, 
and  to  cause  us  to  bestow  our  patronage  upon  more 
meritorious  works  of  our  own  country.  We  have 
writers  of  genius  and  erudition,  who  form  a  re- 
spectable profession.  Some  have  ascended  the 
empyreal  heights  of  poesy,  and  have  gathered  the 
laurel  wreaths  of  genius  ;  others  have  trodden  the 
enchanted  ground  of  fictitious  narrative,  and  have 
been  honoured  by  the  tears  of  beauty  and  the 
smiles  of  virtue.  While  several  have  unfolded 
the  principles  of  science,  literature,  philosophy, 
jurisprudence  and  theology,  and  have  exalted  the 
intellectual  glory  of  America  ;  let  us  cherish  the 
hope,  that  some  at  least  will  devote  their  faculties 
to  improve  those  arts  and  sciences  on  which  the 
substantial  interests  of  our  country  so  greatly  de- 
pend. I  refer  particularly  to  agriculture,  civil 
engineering,  and  naval  architecture.  Let  us  also 
trust  that  some  vigorous  minds  will  apply  their 
powers  to  the  illustration  of  our  history.  It  has 
been  said,  with  more  point  than  truth,  that  the  an- 


39 

nals  of  modern  colonies  afford  but  two  memorable 
events — the  foundation,  and  the  separation  from 
the  parent  country.*  If  this  observation  had  been 
so  qualified  as  to  refer  to  those  occurrences  as  the 
most  memorable,  not  as  the  only  memorable  events, 
it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  correct.  The 
colonial  history  of  New- York,  although  imper- 
fectly executed,  and  brought  down  only  to  1732, 
is  fertile  of  instruction  and  replete  with  interest. 
The  translations  of  the  erudite  f^anderkemp^  and 
the  collections  of  the  Historical  Society  of  New- 
York,  have  furnished  the  most  ample  materials  ; 
and  whenever  it  is  given  to  the  world  by  a  master 
hand,  it  will  be  a  complete  refutation  of  the  remark 
which  I  have  quoted.  Is  it  too  much  to  say,  that 
we  iiave  no  good  history  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  the  best  account  of  our  independence  is  writ- 
ten by  Botta,  an  Italian  ?  At  this  moment,  a  res- 
pectable mechanic  of  the  city  of  London  is  col- 
lecting materials  for  writing  our  history.  He  is 
favourably  noticed  by  distinguished  members  of 
parliament ;  and  although  his  mind  has  not  been 
disciplined  by  a  liberal  education,  yet  its  produc- 
tions display  vigorous  and  cultivated  powers. 
Let  this  stimulate  us  to  similar  and  animated  ex- 
ertions, and  let  not  our  writers  despair  of  ultimate 
success,  even  if  their  efforts  are  attended  with  par- 
tial failures.  Experience  certainly  brightens  the 
vista  of  futurity  ;  but  they  must  expect  that  their 

"  Humboldt. 


.^ 


40 

fate  will  be  determined  sooner  or  later  by  intrinsic 
merit.  Those  writings  tiiat  emit  no  effulgence, 
and  communicate  no  information,  will  fall  still- 
born from  the  press,  and  plunge  at  once  into  the 
abyss  of  obscurity.  Others  again  will  dazzle  as 
they  glide  rapidly  over  tlie  literary  horizon,  and 
be  seen  no  more.  Some,  after  basking  in  the  me- 
ridian  sunshine,  will  gradually  undergo  a  tempo- 
rary eclipse  ;  but  time  will  dispense  justice,  and 
restore  their  original  splendour. 

So  sinks  the  day-star  in  the  ocean's  bed, 

And  yet  anon  repairs  his  drooping  head, 

And  tricks  his  beams,  and  with  new-spangled  ore, 

Flames  in  the  fore-head  of  llie  morning  sky* 

A  fortunate  few  are  always  in  the  full  blaze  of 
sublime  glory — They  are  the  phoenixes  of  the  age 
— the  elect  of  genius,  and  the  favorites  of  nature 
and  of  heaven. 

There  is  nothing  ^^  under  heaven's  wide  lioUow- 
uess,''f  which  does  not  furnish  aliment  for  the 
mind.  All  that  we  observe  by  the  organs  of  sense, 
and  all  that  we  perceive  by  the  operations  of  the 
understanding — all  that  we  contemplate  in  retro- 
jspect,  at  the  present  or  in  the  future,  may  be  com- 
pounded or  decomposed  in  the  intellectual  labora- 
tory, for  beneficial  purposes.  The  active  mind  is 
always  vigilant,  always  observing.  The  original 
images  which  are  created  by  a  vivid  imagination — 

*  Milton  t  Spenser. 


4i 

the  useful  ideas  which  are  called  up  by  memory, 
and  the  vigorous  advances  of  the  reasoning  power 
into  the  regions  of  disquisition  and  investigation, 
furnish  full  employment  for  the  most  powerful 
mind ;  and  after  it  is  fully  stored  with  all  the  pro- 
ductions of  knowledge,  then  the  intellect  has  to 
employ  its  most  important  functions  in  digesting 
and  arranging  the  vast  and  splendid  materials. 
And  if  there  be  any  thing  in  this  world  w  hich  can 
administer  pure  delight,  it  is  when  we  summon 
our  intellectual  resources,  rally  our  mental  poAvers, 
and  proceed  to  the  investigation  of  a  subject  dis- 
tinguished for  its  importance  and  complexity,  and 
its  influence  on  the  destinies  of  man. 

If  science  were  to  assume  a  visible  form,  like 
the  fabled  muses  of  the  ancient  mythology,  all  men 
would  be  ready  to  exclaim  with  the  poet — 

Her  angel's  face, 


As  the  great  eye  of  heaven  shined  bright, 

And  made  a  sunshine  in  a  shady  place  ; 

Did  never  mortal  eye  behold  such  heavenly  grace.* 

But,  alas !  it  is  a  blessing  not  without  its  alloy. 
Its  sedentary  occupations,  and  its  severe  exercises 
of  the  mind,  impair  the  health,  and  hypochondria, 
the  Promethean  vulture  of  the  student,  poisons  for 
a  time  all  the  sources  of  enjoyment.  Add  to  this, 
the  tortures  of  hope  deferred,  and  of  expectation 
disappointed.     After  nights   without  sleep,  and 


"  Spenser. 

6 


^■r^- 


42 

days  without  repose,  in  the  pursuit  of  a  favorite 
investigation-r— after  tasking  the  mind,  and  stretch- 
ing all  its  faculties  to  the  utmost  extent  of  exertion, 
when  the  golden  vision  of  approaching  fame  daz- 
zles the  eye  in  the  distance,  and  the  hand  is  ex- 
tended to  taste  the  fruit  and  to  reap  the  harvest,  the 
airy  castles,  the  gorgeous  palaces  of  the  imagina- 
tion, vanish  like  enchanted  ground,  and  disappear 
like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision. 

From  such  perversities  of  fortune,  the  sunshine 
of  comfort  may,  however,  be  extracted.  In  the 
failure  of  a  scientific  investigation,  collateral  dis- 
coveries of  great  moment  have  been  made.  And 
as  an  eminent  philosopher*  has  well  remarked, 
*^  What  succeeds  pleaseth  more,  but  what  suc- 
ceeds not,  many  times  informs  no  less."  And  in 
the  worst  position,  the  mind  is  improved,  sharpen- 
ed, expanded,  brightened,  and  strengthened  by 
the  processes  which  it  has  undergone,  and  the 
elaborations  which  it  has  experienced. 

We  must  not  then  expect 

A  perpetual  feast  of  nectar'd  sweets, 

Where  no  crude  surfeit  reigns.f         ' 

But  we  may  confidently  pronounce,  that  a  cornu- 
copia of  blessings  will  attend  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge — that  it  will  have  an  electrifying  effect 
on  all  the  sources  of  individual  happiness  and 
public  prosperity — that  glory  will  follow  in  the 

"  Bacon.  +  Milton. 


43 


train  of  its  felicitous  cultivation,  and  that  the  pub- 
lic esteem,  in  perennial  dispensation,  will  crown 
its  votaries. 

This  state  enjoys  a  temperate  climate  and  a 
fruitful  soil,  and  situate  between  the  great  lakes 
on  the  north  and  west,  and  the  ocean  on  the  south 
and  east,  ought  always  to  be  the  seat  of  plenty 
and  salubrity.  It  requires  nothing  but  tlie  en- 
lightened evolution  of  its  faculties  and  resources 
to  realize  the  beau-ideal  of  perfection:  and  the  co- 
operation of  man  with  the  bounty  of  Providence^ 
will  render  it  a  terrestial  paradise  :  And  this 
must  be  effected  through  the  agency  of  intellectu- 
al, operating  on  physical  exertion* 

In  this  grand  career  of  mind^  in  this  potent  ef- 
fort of  science,  in  this  illustrious  display  of  patri- 
otism, contributions  will  flow  in  from  all  quarters. 
The  humble  mite  will  be  acceptable  as  well  as 
the  golden  talent.  And  the  discriminating,  per- 
spicacious and  comprehensive  eye  of  intellect  will 
find 

Tongues  in  trees  ;  books  in  the  running  brooks  ; 
Sermons  in  stones ;  and  good  in  every  thing.* 

Indeed,  the  very  ground  on  which  we  stand  af- 
fords topics  for  important  consideration  and  useful 
application.  This  city  was  among  the  earliest 
seats  of  European  settlement.     It  was  at  the  head 

*  Shakespeare. 


44 


of  a  great  portage,  reaching  from  the  termination 
of  the  navigable  waters  of  the  west  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Hudson.  It  was  the  great  entrepot 
of  the  valuable  trade  in  furs  and  peltries,  and  the 
thorough-fare  of  commercial  adventures,  of  scien- 
tific explorations,  and  of  military  expeditions.  In 
1690,  it  was  destroyed  by  an  eruption  of  French 
and  Indians — the  lives  of  many  of  its  inhabitants 
were  saved  as  it  were  by  a  special  interposition 
of  Providence.  And  the  sympathising  and  pathet- 
ic speech  of  the  faithful  Mohawks,  on  that  melan- 
choly occasion,  may  be  ranked  among  the  most 
splendid  effusions  of  oratory.*  The  alluvial 
lands  of  the  river,  rich  as  the  soil  formed  by  the 
overflowings  of  the  Nile,  were  the  principal  resi- 
dence of  that  ferocious  and  martial  race,  the  true 
old  heads  of  the  Iroquois — a  confederacy  m  hich 
carried  terror,  havoc  and  desolation  from  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  and 
which  aspired  to  universal  empire  over  the  savage 
nations.  How  astonished  would  that  people  be, 
if  they  could  be  summoned  to  life,  to  witness  the 
flowing  of  the  waters  of  the  west  through  this 
place,  seeking  in  a  navigable  shape,  a  new  route 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean — carrying  on  their  bosom 
the  congregated  products  of  nature  and  art,  and 
spreading  as  they  proceed,  wealth  and  prosperity. 
All  alluvial  ground  formed  by  streams  emanat- 
ing from  a  distance  and  reinforced  in  their  transit 


Colden's  History  of  the  Five  Nations. 


45 

l>y  auxiliary  waters,  must  be  fertile  not  only  in 
soil,  but  abundant  in  the  various  productions  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  The  germs  of  plants  will  be 
transported  from  remote  quarters  ;  and  the  gor- 
ges and  ravines,  formed  iu  many  places  by  inter- 
secting streams,  will  not  only  protect  particular 
spots  from  the  ravages  of  the  plow,  but  open  the 
treasures  of  the  mineral  kingdom  by  the  profound 
excavations  of  the  water  and  the  transportation  of 
distant  fossils.  Here,  then,  is  a  proper  region  for 
interesting  discovery.  Strange  trees  now  flourish 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  ;  many  a  flower  is 
born  to  blush  unseen,  and  many  a  curious  produc- 
tion has  never  undergone  scientific  scrutiny. 

Here  has  been  established  a  great  seminary  of 
education,  which  in  less  than  thirty  years  has 
risen  to  an  extraordinary  altitude  of  excellence — 
which  unites  the  ardor  of  youtliful  enthusiasm 
with  the  wisdom  of  experienced  longevity  and  the 
celebrity  of  confirmed  usefulness — and  which,  by 
an  able  diffusion  of  the  light  of  knowledge  and  a 
dextrous  management  of  the  helm  of  government, 
has  already  produced  scholars  who  adorn  and  il- 
lumine the  walks  of  science  and  literature — the 
pursuits  of  professional  life,  and  the  councils  of 
our  country. 

In  this  vicinity  flourished  Sir  William  John- 
son, one  of  the  extraordinary  characters  of  our 
colonial  history.  He  settled  near  the  banks  of  the 
Mohawk,  and  from  humble  beginnings  he  acquir- 


46 

ed  great  celebrity,  particularly  in  war— immensd 
wealth,  and  the  favor  of  his  sovereign.  Auspicious 
events  in  concurrence  with  a  paramount  influence 
over  the  Indians,  and  great  energy  of  character, 
laid  the  foundation  and  erected  the  superstructure 
of  his  fortunes.  In  this  place  lived  and  died  that 
eminent  servant  of  God,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Romeyn, 
the  fragrance  of  whose  virtues  is  still  cherished  in 
your  hearts  and  felt  in  your  lives.  His  venerable 
form — his  dignified  deportment— his  eye  beaming 
goodness  and  his  voice  uttering  wisdom,  are  still 
fresh  in  your  minds  :  so  impressive  is  the  power 
of  combined  virtue  and  intelligence.  Dr.  Dwight^ 
the  greatest  theologian  of  the  age,  has  pronounced 
his  eulogiura  ;  and  it  remains  for  biography  to 
perform  its  functions,  and  to  fill  up  the  outlines  so 
ably  drawn  by  one  of  the  most  acute  observers  and 
profound  thinkers  which  our  country  has  pro- 
duced.* 

Finally,  whatever  may  be  our  thoughts,  oui* 
words,  our  writings,  or  our  actions,  let  them  all  be 
subservient  to  the  promotion  of  science  and  the 
prosperity  of  our  country.  Pleasure  is  a  sha- 
dow ;  wealth  is  vanity,  and  power  a  pageant — 
but  knowledge  is  extatic  in  enjoyment,  perennial 
in  fame,  unlimited  in  space,  and  infinite  in  dura- 
tion. In  the  performance  of  its  sacred  oflBces,  it 
fears  no  danger,  spares  no  expense,  omits  no  ex- 
ertion.    It  scales   the  mountain,   looks  into  the 


*  Dwight's  Travels. 


47 

Volcano,  dives  into  the  ocean,  perforates  the  earth, 
wings  its  flight  into  the  skies,  encircles  the  globe, 
explores  sea  and  land,  contemplates  the  distant, 
examines  the  minute,  comprehends  the  great,  and 
ascends  to  the  sublime.  No  place  too  remote  for 
its  grasp — no  heavens  too  exalted  for  its  reach. 
^^  Its  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God- — its  voice  the  har- 
mony of  the  world.  All  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  do  it  homage,  the  very  least  as  feeling  its 
care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempt  from  its  power. 
Both  angels  and  men  and  creatures,  of  what  con- 
dition soever,  though  each  in  different  sort  and 
manner,  yet  all,  with  uniform  consent,  admiring 
it  as  the  parent  of  peace  and  happiness."* 

*  Hooker. 


Pa  Si 


«* 


*;i''""K9l0  848    ^ 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


